Human Existence
by Midnyght Saber
Summary: Just a philosophical fic I did from the perspective of Clockwork. The song is "Through The Never" by Metallica.


**Disclaimer: **_Danny Phantom _and all related characters and information are the property of Butch Hartman and Viacom International Inc. "Through the Never" is the property of Metallica and Elektra Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

* * *

For eons, I have watched the human race grow and flourish, and I have watched, unable to interfere, as the human race has attacked itself. I have seen the genocide of races, the murder of countless millions, and I have watched as hatred and animosity shaped the world.

I have seen those who look beyond themselves try to raise their people above the base instincts by which they have acted, and I have seen these selfsame people slain for their beliefs.

**All that is  
Was  
And will be**

I have seen with my own eyes, eyes destined ever to watch over the eternal river of time, as humanity found its faith in the natural world. I watched as they found sanctity in nature and in life, and watched as they molded their thoughts into entities. I was present when the human race first began to call upon the gods, asking for bountiful harvests, pleading for the storms to cease, on their knees, begging for their children to be healthy and to grow strong.

I have seen them learn to use the land to bring forth the harvest fruits, and I have seen them pay homage to the lords of their harvests. Yet, in this, I have also seen them damn the gods, I have seen them cast curses at the sky, as the fortune and misfortune of their people lay squarely in the hands of the gods they had created.

**Universe  
Much too big to see  
Time and space  
Never ending**

I have seen nations war upon each other, claiming their right to rule was by divine ordinance, and I have watched as conquering nations cast down the statues of the gods of olden days for the gods of days to come.

I have seen civilizations disappear under shifting sands, rivers change their course and leave desolate wasteland where once were verdant fields, and through it all, humanity learned.

Moving from what they knew to what may be, they feared the new, but followed the path that lay, unseen, before them, hoping beyond reason that fortune would be theirs.

**Disturbing thoughts  
Questions pending  
Limitations of human understanding**

With each new ruler came new gods. With each new generation came the divine providence of rule. With each change in power came new rules, new laws, new ways of life. I watched as the ways of old were challenged, leaving the people in question until those who brought change were removed from power. I have seen the power of fear.

Spread across the continents, unaware for so many years of the existence of others, they grew, so alike in their paths, yet so different in culture. In time, as they came together, they understood their mutual need for each other.

**Too quick to criticize  
Obligation to survive  
We hunger to be alive**

Yet, that fear that began with the first strike of lightning and the first flare of fire still crept on silent paws throughout the lands, and change was ever slow, coming in only as fast as the thoughts of new could be upheld.

Nations rose and fell, power ebbed and flowed, and the world moved on in the celestial dance around the sun.

**Twisting, turning  
Through the never  
All that is  
Ever  
Ever was**

Great leaders arose only to have their power corrupt them, and mistrust began to sow as fear spread like wildfire. If someone was different, it was something to be feared. What would become of the native people if the foreign took over?

**Will be  
Ever  
Twisting  
Turning  
Through the never**

The greatest failure of man was not war, nor was it murder, nor was it power. It was the allowance of the propagation of fear. Illogical and irrational though they were, those fears were grasped in iron claws and held onto like the last tenuous threads of one's lifeline.

**In the dark  
Speed past our eyes  
Pursuit of truth  
No matter  
Where it lies**

Years have come and gone, and war and pestilence have plagued the lands. Fear has caused the tides of negativity to wash over the human race, and numerous ideological arguments have led to bloodshed. The constant struggle to find the one great truth is the goal of so many, though they never seem to attain that truth regardless of how hard they look.

**Gazing up  
To the breeze  
Of the heavens**

Through my windows upon their world, I have seen the streets run crimson with the intermingled blood of innocent and guilty. I have suffered the sight of children ruthlessly destroyed before they could even begin to experience their lives. I have felt such great pain watching the bodies of those who did nothing wrong burn in hellish flames for crimes they did not commit. All for the sake of being different, those innocent souls were destroyed.

Humanity fears what it lacks the capacity to understand.

**On a quest  
Meaning  
Reason  
Came to be  
How it begun**

But throughout it all, I have seen something so great within their race.

There are those among them, sparks of hope among a sea of hatred and shadowed fear, always seeking to learn and to better themselves, risking their very lives for the sake of changing the world around them.

**All alone in the family  
Of the sun  
Curiosity  
Teasing everyone**

I have seen whole nations reduced to the status of animals, and I have seen the worship of the living world demonized as servitude to a vile and demented Prince of Darkness. Yet, a shining beacon appears because of them, for those who witness suffering, despite all odds, find ways to move beyond, to become more than what the world considers them to be.

**On our home  
Third stone from the sun  
Twisting, turning  
Through the never**

From the most corrupt and vile occurrences in human life, people have found the faith to band together, and in remembering the pain of the past, they seek acceptance in the future. Raising their voices in protest, their hands empty of all but signs, they have called out for change. Met with resistance, violence and foul language, they continued on in their own fight, and in their determination, people around them began to see the value of change, and the tides shifted.

**All that is  
Ever  
Ever was**

Fear still lingers, but change is always following, making the occurrences of the past nothing more than history, weaving a tapestry of hope of the future.

**Will be  
Ever  
Twisting  
Turning  
Through the never**

That single flickering candle of hope, the faint light in the shadows of that which is not understood, is the thing that keeps humanity moving towards a better future. And it is that tiny ray of light that makes life worth living for them all. Though there will always be things that are not understood at a specific time, the human search for knowledge will lead them to the answers eventually, though it, like all things, will take time…and I will be there to see humanity reach its pinnacle, watch as the history is locked away in the past and all who live move forward as one unified race.

One day, black and white and Asian and Hispanic will no longer matter – all will regard themselves as human.

**On through the never  
We must go  
On through the never  
Out to the edge  
Of the never  
We must go**

However, though I can see the timelines in which this does happen, I still believe that the day when this occurs is far off. There is still much animosity among the humans, and there are those that cling viciously to the past, ripping open the wounds again, letting them re-infect with the actions of the present. This caustic, gangrenous infection on the fabric of morality rends the interracial relations apart, leaving divisiveness where there was harmony, dissention and arguments where there had been a mutual acceptance for each other only moments before.

**On through the never  
The never comes  
Twisting, turning  
Through the never**

I have only interfered once within the millennia, and the only reason I did was to stop Dan Phantom. I may have watched Danny grow up, but it was not for him that I broke the Laws of the Ancients. I did it because I could not let the events that would have taken place happen. You see, time may be a river, but it does not follow a set course. There are tributaries and branches, many paths that the winding waters may follow, and at each crossroads, I must sit back and watch as the human race takes another turn, be it for better or worse. The turn in the river that embraced Danny's violent transformation ended swiftly, clear waters muddled with blood and the screams of his victims. Despite all the laws about non-interference, I would not sit back and watch your race, which has struggled for so many long years, be so violently ripped from existence. There is so much more awaiting all of you, and I cannot let that chance be cast aside.

**All that is  
Ever  
Ever was  
Will be  
Ever  
Twisting  
Turning  
Who we are  
Ask forever**

A confusing race you all are indeed, so ready to move forward to pursue your dreams, but just as easily dissuaded by the failures of the past. Just because you have heard of the old animosity gives you no rational reason to cling to those thoughts, yet you do it because you believe it is right. Playing the cards of the past to strengthen your hand does nothing for anyone, yet the idea that it should be done is so easily accepted. Until you learn that the only thing that can be taken from the past are lessons of what was done wrong, there will be strife among you.

**Twisting  
Turning  
Through the never  
Never**

I will remain here in my tower, and I will watch you guide your people where the paths take you. I cannot promise to save you from yourselves, but I will do whatever it takes to give you the chances that you deserve. You, as an entire people, deserve nothing less than that.


End file.
